November Birthdays

Sweet Aaron turned 9 on November 10th. His 1st request was frozen waffles for breakfast, 2nd was Chick Fil A for lunch at school. Bubbles joined us.

His other want was a birthday party with his best school friend Ethan and Chloe (& my friend Steph).

Joyce made him one of her famous ice cream cakes with a crazy flavor combination upon his choosing.

Looks like a party!

Josh and I had a party of our own afterwards. Here we are at the campfire with Amanda & Phillip, one of our favorite couples to hang out with.

On the way home from church. My favorite little BOYS in a nice clean truck!!! Josh and Addy stay for 3rd service to volunteer.

Joyce's 65th birthday on November 13th! The best gift was Andy coming for a visit. We went bowling and out to dinner.

Our successful group selfie.

We hosted Friendsgiving on the 19th. Cooked my 1st turkey!

The party lights leading the way to the campfire. Josh also installed a dart board in the garage.

Love this picture of the Japanese Maple tree out front. Fall in NC is so beautiful!

Addy sleeping with the cat on her lap. NOT an indoor cat.

This is a rare sight. I don't remember ever going out to eat with our dear friends Bruce & Kristie...

Especially not with ALL of our 8 children! Always a good time.

Adeline Grace is officially a teenager! She turned 13th on November 28th. She's most special to us as our 1st born & only daughter.

She had a family party on her actual birthday. Then her best friend Keira came over for a birthday sleepover on the weekend.

Thanksgiving 2017 in Gatlinburg

For Thanksgiving we traveled to Gatlinburg, TN. Our 1st stop was the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge. I loved it! We learned so much and there several real artifacts.

After checking into the chalet, the kids tried out the hot tub with a VIEW.

Always a treat to sit by a real fire and watch TV.

Thanksgiving morning we hiked the Chimney Tops trail. It was closed last year due to a small forest fire that eventually spread and burned half the town.

So proud that everyone made it to the top. Total hike was 3.5 miles.

The kids picked the next activity, mini-putt at Fantasy golf in Pigeon Forge.

And Alcatraz, a crime museum. It was very interesting but Benny was bored with all the reading. Even O.J.'s Bronco was there!

Early the next morning Josh, Jackson and I headed to Cades Cove to look for bears & hike Abram Falls. No bears but we did see turkey, deer, horses and wild hogs.

Jackson at the top of the falls.

Gorgeous day for a hike. This one was 5 miles.

Aww. We make such a cute couple!

Our friends who live nearby came to see us, Brent & Lisa Davis and their 2 boys. We did a little shopping on the strip in the evening.

The glorious sunrise the next morning.

We took the new chairlift up to Anakeesta to explore. The kids LOVE chairlifts.

There was a kids play area on top of the moutain.

And a series of swinging bridges.

Next was Grandma's choice activity, Christ in the Smokies museum & gardens. No complaints and quite the unique experience.

We ended up taking the chairlift back up again at night for a view of the lights.

On our way home, we visited a llama farm.

Part of Mimi's birthday gift.

A fun time was had by all. So much to be THANKful for...

Halloween 2017

Yeehaw!! Halloween started 2 days early dressed up at church.

On the 31st, my friend Steph & her daughter Chloe came over for Taco Tuesday. We talked them into going trick or treating with us too!

Action shot with a theme.

Who's the handsome ninja?

To keep with tradition, we went trick or treating in Joyce's neighborhood. This year the Molskness family joined us as well.

One of the neighbors gave out cotton candy. Benny's was as big as his head.

Everyone made out well and we have tons of candy to resist eating. UGH!

The next morning on our way to school. A beautiful fall sunrise in North Carolina. Today we actually hit 80!

Yesterday Josh and I had the honor of hearing Andy Stanley in person at a conference here in Charlotte.

Josh finally got the dangling front tooth out, just in time for the last soccer game. The other came out in Orlando a few days later.

When I go into the garage during the day I sometimes see this....a sweet sleeping kitten. Awww.

Orlando Vacation

These two insisted on visiting one of the largest Lego stores in the U.S. at Disney Springs. This picture was taken at 9:30p.m. after a full day at Animal Kingdom.

I found a groupon for Gator Golf and it was so amazing. There were alligators everywhere along the mini putt course. We even got to feed them.

Mimi's favorite reptile was this huge tortoise between hole 5 & 6.

Such a unique course, we loved it!

Next stop was WonderWorks aka the upside down house. Another groupon bought before we left NC.

The kids were so entertained. It was like a very hands on science center.

There was even a 4D movie that felt so real you could get motion sickness.

And a glow in the dark ropes course.

AND Laser Tag. Mimi's first time.

Right up these boys alley. Afterwards we went to Friendly's for dinner, an old family favorite.

Our last day in Orlando we used our passes and got in FREE to the science center downtown. This was the largest play place ever.

We stayed until closing and the kids could have stayed longer.

There were so many things to play. One of the best museums I've visited for kids.

And the best part was no crowds since it was a school day.

We ended this most memorable vacation with an evening swim.